History
The Confederation of African Football was founded in 1956 and immediately began making plans for a continental championship tournament. Four teams were expected to play in the first tournament, hosted by Sudan in February of 1957, but South Africa was excluded because its apartheid government wouldn't send a multi-racial team, so it came down to just three, Egypt and Ethiopia in addition to the host country.
Since then, the field for the African Nations Cup has gradually increased to four, six, eight, twelve, and the present sixteen teams.
Originally, the tournament was to be played in odd-numbered years. However, the 1961 event was postponed to 1962, resulting in championships in consecutive years, and the 1967 tournament also had to moved back a year. Since 1968, the tournament has been played biennially, in even-numbered years.
The first women's tournament was held in 1991, the second in 1995. Since 1998, this event has also been staged in even-numbered years.